St. Landry democrat., 1887-02-05

TIE HOG IN WINTER.

will keep the hog in closely heateo
room al winter there would be very
little need of feeding the animal. they
seem to intimate that profitable pork
production depends not SO much upon
the price of feed as it does upon the
price of base-burners and fuel. At all
events, they are etcrnally telling us to
Keep the hog in warm quarters, and in
forming us that exposure to the cold
means loss of heat and consequently
an additional expenditure for food.
Now, nobody will advocate an unneces-
sary exposure of swine or any other
class of animals. They should always
have clean, comfortable quarters; but
a greater mistake than to attempt to
keep swine in q high temperature can
not be committed in connection with
swine husbandry. The hog is
naturally an animal of high tenn
perature when undergoing the process
of fattening. So far as suffering is
concerned. the fathog can stand very
low degree of temperature if dry; and,
duce injury. But there can be no dan
ger Of doing this in winter some may
think. Yes, there is. The house may
be so close and unventilated as to pro-
duce too high a degree of heat; or,
what is more common, the hogs may
be permitted to huddle together and
heat themselves almost to the cooking
point. This is the cause of a greit deal
of trouble among swine, and we are
frequently compelled to tell swine breed
ers who complain of sickness among
their hogs to ro,,t them out and keep
them from huddIing together If we
could always have our own way in the
matter we would never have higher
temperature than forty-six degrees in
which to fstten hogs. Certainly in
winter time the temperature can be
kept as low as that. unless their quar-
tiers are abc1ninalde in construction.
The matter Of cleanli ness should be
carefully Looked after. The hog is not
near so dirty an animal as some people
would have us believe, and if it was. so
much more the need Of our striving to
make him clearly. Swine will eat al
most any thing, it is true; but SO will
fowl. The hog, however, will show his
preference for clean food and clean
place to feed if it is given an oppor-
tunitE. The winter quarters of some
hogs are an abominable disgrace. They
sleep in filth. they eat in filth. and if
they do not happen to die before they
are got into market the pork produced
under such circumstances can not be of
the best quality. The animal enjoys
clean floor to feed upon and clean
bed to sleep in. and enjoyment always
improves thrift. Whenever an animal
enjoys its surroundings it will always
do the best it can do.
The food of the fattening hog will
consist mostly of corn, the great fat
producing food of the country; and if
the animal has been fed up to the time
of beginning the fattening process for
development of bone and muscle, it
will Usually stand even steady and ex-
elusive diet until it is ready for market
without much danger. But if it has
not been thus developed it may break
down at any time. We must not forget
that tattening is a violence to natural
laws. It is the creation of something
that beyond a certain limit is not only
of no use to the animal system, but a
detriinent to it. Suppose it were pos
sible to fatten human being as we
fatten swine, and we should do it,
what would be the result? We should
endanger the life. We should load all
the organs with something that would
not benefit them, but would interfere
With the full performance of their
functions. The same is true-thoMgh
perhaps to less extent-with an ami
NAL that we make SO excessively fat as
we do the hog. And now if the hog is
weak to begin with, if its bones and its
muscles are not developed as nature
intended them to be. we simply add to
the imperfect condition of the system
when we push its development on its
LEASE important side. But while the
hog that has been developed as we have
indicated may get through on an ex-
elusive corn diet, it is not well to risk
it. It should be rule of feeding that
no animal should be confined to corn
at any time or under any circum-
stances. IF the hog gets nothing but
corn it will sooner or later be troubled
with costiveness. with all the evils that
such state insures. If fed every day
a little of the bone and muscle forming
foods, such as middlings, oil meal, etc.,
its digestive machinery will be kept in
order, and beside the animal will be
kept growing.
If hogs are kept. as we keep them,
until the second year. the winter food